BEEP CATTLE. 289 



be prejudiced in their favor perhaps I am but the oftener I 

 look at them, and the more minutely I compare them with other 

 breeds of cattle, the better I like them* 



" The Highlander is so small I do not take him into view in this 

 comparison. His live weight, I should think, is from 700 to 900 

 pounds, as the extremes of steers brought to market. The best 

 of them are as near perfection of form as you can imagine 

 exactly like a small, well bred south-down sheep, in comparison 

 to other sheep. The heads and horns are fine, eyes bright and 

 prominent, face dished, and small muzzles, with large nostrils 

 better in the crops than any other animal, being as full and 

 round as the very best of others over the shoulders, and preserv- 

 ing this fullness and roundness much further on each side of the 

 back-bone towards the hips. I wish I had had time to see one 

 cut up by a butcher as I had not as he must carry an extra 

 nice, lean, tender, juicy piece along the back. The brisket is 

 equal to the best short-horns, for their size, and they are as well 

 let down in the twist as the best south-down sheep. The hair is 

 soft and long, so you may judge what a nice little beast he is 

 in fact, to other cattle, what an Arabian is to other horses. You 

 cannot improve him by a short-horn cross. Select the best and 

 improve them by themselves, is the true way. As to the colors 

 of the different herds of Highlands I saw, I should think two- 

 thirds were black; most of the others a light yellow, slightly 

 inclined to dun, or light mouse color. I prefer the yellow, and 

 have no doubt but they handle best; at any rate, they are the 

 handsomest to my eye, and with continued selection, might be 

 soon bred of that color almost entirely. 



"Of the polled Scotch black Galloway or Angus the best 

 do not weigh more than about two hundred pounds over the 



* Ever since he knew them, Mr. A. has been an enthusiastic admirer of the short- 

 horns.-L. F. A. 



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